URUGUAY - Montevideo

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Montevideo was a lovely surprise. It had most of the modern amenities, but with a distinctly old-fashioned feel. It was almost as expensive as Brazil though, particularly for eating out, but we put that down to the poor exchange rate.

We found a very sweet, Parisien style hotel in the historic centre of the city and stayed just three nights.

The historic centre of Montevideo is well preserved with a mix of architectural styles and influences from its colourful past.

Our first day was a Saturday so the flea market was being set up. There were arts, crafts and the usual antique nik-naks you'd expect to find in a British collectables fair.

We had breakfast that first morning in a very old fashioned cafe, with hot chocolate, croissants and freshly squeezed orange juice. Then we explored the churches and plazas, through cobbled streets. It was a little rundown, but that only added to the city's charm.

We walked through the main plaza with its magnificent monuments and buildings, where students were performing as clowns, musicians were playing and there was even some filming for a TV show taking place.

The commercial centre was fairly uninteresting and everything was closed (on a Saturday afternoon no less!).

On Sunday we had a guided tour of the Teatro Solis. It had been extensively renovated and was a beautiful building.

Then we headed to the old Market which had been transformed with a dozen Parilla restaurants and tourist shops. Next door was a Carnival Museum with some costumes and history of the carnival - not exactly a world class museum, but midly interesting.

The Parillas (bbqs) in the market were so fascinating and the food smelled and looked so good we decided to splash out and have Sunday lunch there. Our bbq platter arrived, complete with beef ribs, chicken, chorizo and all the local delicacies (blood sausage and intestines). We actually did taste the latter, but couldn't stomach it. While the food wasn't as brilliant as hoped, the atmosphere and experience were fantastic.

On our walk back to the hotel we stopped for a coffee. Within minutes there was a procession of holy men and hundreds of churchgoers heading for the catholic church in the center.

Monday morning I braved the hairdresser (where they spoke some English) while Andy packed the bags for our trip to Colonia.

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Comments

[Heather]

Glad you enjoyed Uruguay as well! If you head to Punta del Este, you MUST visit Casa Pueblo and stay to watch the sunset! It's amazing! We think it's so great that you're starting your daughter off traveling at such a young age! Happy travels! Heather and Eric dirty-hippies.blogspot.com

[Kim]

Heading to Montevideo in 2 weeks...enjoyed reading your post. What was the name of the little Parisien style hotel? Are you heading to Igazu Falls at all? Have fun on the rest of your holidays! Kim

[Hewlett Blog]

Hotel in Montevideo
It is the Hotel Palacio and it's located in the historic centre at Bartolomé Mitre 1364. We paid USD$38 for a double room and they even gave us an extra bed for our daughter free of charge. No breakfast is included (as with many Montevideo hotels) but just down the road there are some nice cafes - try the one on Plaza de la Constitution, can't remember the name but its a big, very old fashioned cafe and they do a set breakfast with medialunas, coffee & OJ for a good price.